


They Are Not Alone

by SatMorningCartoons (SilvaeSong)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, because why not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-08-02
Packaged: 2018-07-27 05:41:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7605844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilvaeSong/pseuds/SatMorningCartoons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This will be an epic novel about our favorite superhero duo and their alter-egos. Original characters as well. No one ever said there were only seven kwamis, did they?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This has a lot more planning behind it than any other fic I've written. Be patient. I won't update regularly, but I will update as often as possible.

* * *

"Drew? Drew?! ANDREW!!"

He woke with a start.

"Huh? Wha?"

"Drew! We have to go to Paris!"

"What? Paris? Why Paris?"

"Because the watch was awoken!"

"Can't it wait until morning?"

A pause.

"Oh, alright, but first thing tomorrow!"

"Yeah, yeah. First thing."

He fell asleep instantly, oblivious to the two kwami talking above his head. 


	2. News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to do my best to update tags and stuff with each new chapter, so only characters that have been introduced show up.

* * *

“Ouch! Plagg!”

The blond model glared at his kwami from his spot at the window. Adrien had been once again wistfully gazing out at the city of lights thinking of his lady, when a projectile had hit him squarely on the back of the head. From his vantage point on the second floor, Plagg cackled. He loved irking his chosen, and hated being ignored, so the idea to hit him with his now empty camembert dish was, he thought, ingenious.

“I said, ‘I’m out of camembert,’ but I guess you couldn’t hear me over the sound of _Ladybug_ in your head.” Plagg teased, still cackling.

“Wha-! N-no! I-I wasn’-! Plagg!” Adrien whined, his tone begging for a shred of understanding. Unfortunately, he got none for his efforts.

“Admit it. You were daydreaming about her again. You still have homework to do, ya know.”

He did know. He had an essay to write for history, plus a lab report to type up. Sighing, Adrien shuffled back to his desk, resigned to his schoolwork.

               Two hours later, Natalie called him for dinner. He had developed a slight headache from staring at his computer screen, but he still had a lot of work to do.

“Natalie, could you just have the chef bring it up to me? I’m in the middle of schoolwork.”

The intercom was silent for a moment before Natalie’s voice replied, “No, your father will be joining you.”

That couldn’t be good. Now, Adrien was a little worried. His father only ate with him when there was something important to discuss. Usually, it involved some sort of failing on Adrien’s part. In a rare show of sympathy, Plagg said nothing, just patted him on the shoulder with a small smile. When Adrien walked into the dining room, his father was already sitting at the head of the table. He hesitated.

“Come and sit, Adrien. There is something we need to discuss.” His father’s voice cold and emotionless.

Swallowing deeply, Adrien warily approached the table. Whatever needed to be discussed must be really bad if his father had to tell him himself instead of sending Natalie to do it. Mentally shaking himself, he tried to ignore the impulse to regard his father as a dangerous predator. Having finally reached his seat, Adrien noted that his father either hadn’t noticed his bizarre behavior, or wasn’t going to mention it. He breathed a quick sigh of relief. He knew this conversation would not be good, and he didn’t want it to get any worse because of his cat-like tendencies.

A few minutes after the chef had brought in their first course, Adrien managed to muster up the courage to ask what this “important discussion” was. The look Gabriel fired at him quelled the miniscule amount of courage Adrien had managed to scrape up. After an eternity of waiting while his father daintily (and pointlessly, Adrien thought) dabbed his chin with his napkin, Adrien finally got his answer.

“We will be … having guests.”

The last two words seemed to be forced out of his mouth, as if he would rather say, “invaded by rat-men from the swampy jungles of Mars,” but decided not to against his better judgement. It was obvious, even to someone who didn’t know the man, that he was not looking forward to his impending company. As a result, Adrien was very nervous asking his next question.

“Who are our guests?”

Gabriel glared at his son, as if the guests were somehow his fault.

“Your cousins, Arthur and Felix.”

Adrien ignored the way his father spat “your”, as if it was somehow Adrien’s fault that the great Gabriel Agreste was to be associated with peasants such as them. He was too excited.

“Really?! They’re coming to Paris?! I haven’t seen them since that vacation to England when I was nine! I can’t wait! When will they be here?”

The great Gabriel Agreste did not fail to notice that Adrien was practically bouncing in his seat. Neither did the kitchen staff who were eavesdropping at the door with Natalie. Gabriel was the only one who seemed annoyed by the youth’s enthusiasm.

“Their plane is scheduled to land tomorrow afternoon.”

It wasn’t until after his initial bounce of excitement at seeing them so soon that Adrien remembered the photoshoot immediately after school the next day that was bound to run until the sun was set. His face fell. He knew it was pointless, but he wanted to ask anyway.

“Father, could Natalie reschedule the photoshoot tomorrow? The photographer tomorrow always takes forever and it will be late by the time I get to see them.”

Adrien couldn’t place the look on his father’s face. He wasn’t sure if it was good or bad.

“No, I will not cancel or reschedule it as they are planning on attending. The purpose of their visit is for them to observe the fashion industry in every aspect.”

Adrien didn’t understand why his father seemed to hate the idea of their visit, but he understood that they would be at the photoshoot, and that was enough. If he played his cards right, he might even be able to get them in a few of the photos. Forcing himself out of his daydreaming and scheming, he kept his expression blank as he finished his meal, barely containing the urge to jump for joy. His cousins were coming to visit!

               Adrien finished off his meal quickly (model diet) and excused himself. Following his father’s nod of assent, he practically ran from the dining room. As Natalie entered, a whoop could be heard from somewhere in the house. Natalie’s answering smile didn’t go unnoticed. When Natalie noticed the questioning glare her employer was firing her direction, she braved a comment that she knew could get her in trouble if he took it the wrong way.

“It’s just nice to see Adrien happy. He doesn’t get that very often.”

An agonizing eternity later, Gabriel nodded, rose, and set off at a brisk walk. Natalie hastened to follow, fumbling with the folders and paperwork she carried, the original reason she had needed to enter the dining room back on her mind.

“Monsieur Agreste, the editor of Fashion Weekly called and wanted to ask . . .”

Up in his room, Adrien’s mouth was going a mile a minute.

“. . . going to be so great!” he finally finished, out of breath. Plagg had just about reached his limit.

“That’s great, kid, but where’s my camembert?”

Guiltily, Adrien pulled it out of his pocket. He had gotten so excited, he forgot to give Plagg the cheese he had swiped on his way to his room. Plagg dove, munching happily on the little wedge.

“Sho, wha’ were oo shayin’?”

Adrien rolled his eyes and started explaining, again, becoming more and more excited with every passing minute.


	3. Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien has news for Nino, but the boys get distracted by all the commotion the girls are causing.

* * *

 

"Dude, what's with you? You're practically bouncing."  
  
Adrien and Nino were walking up the steps to the school, and Nino had to take a step back to keep from getting hit by Adrien in his excitement.  
  
"You're never going to believe this, Nino! Guess what my dad said last night! Go on, guess!"  
  
Now, Nino had no clue what the stick-in-the-mud senior Agreste could _possibly_ say or do that would make _anyone_ excited, much less Adrien, who was normally cool, quiet and collected.  
  
"I got nothing, dude. What'd he say?"  
  
He will forever deny it, but Adrien let out an unmanly squeal of excitement.  
  
"We're going to have-!"  
  
" _Adrikins_!!"  
  
All of Adrien's excitement vanished as he was attacked by the clingy blonde diva. A reserved and resigned refinement replaced his chipper attitude.  
  
"Oh, hey, Chloé."  
  
"So, _Adrikins_ , daddy says you're having friends over today? But you never told me! If you're going to invite someone over, Adrien, you should at least let them know so they can show up."  
  
Her prattling was followed by her trademarked, fake laugh. Adrien fought to keep the wince off his features.  
  
_'Does she have to do that right in my ear? It's so loud and harsh. Almost like a bark. Like a chihuahua. That's what she is. A spoiled chihuahua.'_  
  
". . . around ten. Adrien, are you listening to me?! So rude." She scoffed.  
  
_'Oh no! I got lost in thought and ended up ignoring her. Please don't make a scene, Chlo. Please.'_  
  
"Sorry, spaced out for a sec. What did you say?" He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in that nervous tick of his.  
  
She huffed.  
  
"I was just telling you what I had planned for us to do tonight. I'll just let it be a surprise then." She had steadily started leaning in on her last sentence, but Adrien really didn't want her getting that close. He was afraid of what she would do.  
  
"What do you mean? We aren't doing anything today." He replied with a slight frown, carefully prying her arms off of him and setting her aside. If she held on any tighter, he would have needed a crowbar.  
  
She laughed again. He was glad she wasn't right in his ear this time at least.  
  
"Of course we are." She batted her eyes at him innocently.  
  
_'Oh, she did not just bat her eyes at you! She just batted her eyes at you. What is she even talking about??? Is this about that advice she gave earlier about inviting people over? When did I invite her over? Get real, Adrien, she probably invited herself over.'_  
  
"No, Chloé." He sighed, shaking his head. "My cousins are arriving this afternoon. I'll be busy. Maybe you can come over next time."  
  
Before she could ambush him again, he grabbed Nino's wrist and set off, intending to put as much distance between him and the drama queen as possible.  
  
"Dude, can I have my arm back?"  
  
_'Oops.'_  
  
"Yeah, sorry."  
  
Nino gave him a look he didn't think he liked. It was a mixture of pity and baffled.  
  
"Dude, don't hate me for asking this-" that's never good "-but why do you still tolerate her? She's evil, and she's not your only friend anymore."  
  
Adrien sighed.  
  
_'How do I explain what she is to me? A fading reminder of a time when I was happy? When I had a real family with a mom and dad who both cared about me?'_  
  
Beside him, Nino sucked in a breath through his teeth.  
  
"Shoot, did I say that out loud?!" He panicked.  
  
Nino's quick glance at Adrien's face was all the answer he needed. In that quick glance, he understood that Nino had heard him thinking aloud, and he sympathized. Granted, Nino hadn't lost a parent before, much less _both_ at the same time, but he was offering the most sincere apology a guy can offer in that one look. Nino reached up and punched him lightly on the shoulder.  
  
That made Adrien's day.  
  
He had always heard of the whole "guys punching each other in the arm instead of talking" thing, but he'd never experienced it. Chloé was the only person his age he spent any amount of time with before he went to school, and she was definitely not the punching type. She was a talker.  
  
Nino had just shown him what he had been missing out on. With that simple gesture, Nino said, as clearly as if he'd spoken, "I know it's hard, dude, but you know I'm always here for you. If you wanna talk, I'll listen. If you don't wanna talk, I won't pry. I'll support you all the way."  
  
Maybe he was reading too much into a simple punch in the arm.  
  
"You're reading too much into it!"  
  
See? Even Marinette agreed with him.  
  
_'Wait, what?'_  
  
"You won't tell me why you weren't home when I got there, nor will you tell me why you didn't answer your phone when I called, like, five times! What else am I going to think, girl?! Why are you mad at me?!"  
  
_'Oh.'_  
  
That sounded private.  
  
"Alya, I'm telling you, that's not it! I'm not mad at you!"  
  
"You're yelling at me!"  
  
"You're yelling at _me_! Besides, you won't listen!"  
  
"You aren't talking to me!"  
  
The argument was escalating. The boys had made it to their desks and sat down, but the girls were standing outside the door, both flailing their arms, gesturing wildly at the air with raised voices and red faces.  
  
"It's not that, Alya! I wasn't avoiding you! I was just busy!"  
  
"Busy with what, _Marinette_?!"  
  
To his left, Adrien heard Nino gasp.  
  
"What is it?" Adrien whispered.  
  
Nino shot a nervous glance at the door. Marinette was listing a bunch of things that could be considered "busy".  
  
"It's just, I've never seen them fight before, and, well, Alya called her Marinette."  
  
He didn't follow.  
  
"I don't follow."  
  
"Have you never noticed that Alya rarely calls anyone by their actual name? She does the nickname thing like it's religious or something. If she called her by _name_ . . ." Nino let the end hang, not daring to even end his sentence as the girls stomped in.  
  
"Nino!" Alya practically yelled. The poor boy simultaneously jumped and curled in on himself. It looked painful. Adrien cringed in sympathy. "Switch me seats!"  
  
"Okay!" Nino rushed to gather his books and move. After he had slid out of his chair and scurried up the steps to Alya's usual seat like a kicked puppy, Adrien dared to glance behind him. Poor Nino looked terrified. Adrien jumped as Alya's books hit the desk with such force he was afraid she'd put a book-shaped hole in the surface.  
  
This was going to be a long day.


	4. Doomed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya gets scary, Marinette gets depressed, Adrien gets panicked, and Nino gets confused.

* * *

Adrien was nervous. The longer Alya seethed next to him, the more afraid he was that he'd get caught in her crosshairs.

Behind him, Marinette wasn't doing much better.

_'What am I supposed to do?!?! I can't tell her that I went to an old Chinese guy's house to talk about an ancient civilization of mystic beings and that's why I didn't answer the phone!!!! UGHHhh!! And she could have at least switched with Adrien instead of Nino!!!! She must be really mad at me. She probably hates me and will never talk to me again! I have lost my one and only true friend!! How am I going to sur-'_

Nino and Adrien both jumped when Marinette's pencil snapped in half, succumbing to her death grip, but neither were even close to reaching Marinette levels. She was already jumpy and on edge, so when she jumped, she jumped all the way off her chair to the floor.

Everyone jumped at the sudden, loud thump of Marinette hitting the floor. To her right, Chloé started laughing.

"You can't even sit in a chair, and you're _class rep_?!" She screeched out between laughs.

Marinette hung her head.

_'She's right. I'm too clumsy to be class rep, I'm too clumsy to be Ladybug, I'm too clumsy for Adrien to notice me, and I'm too clumsy to keep a friend.'_

She could feel the tears starting to well up.

"You okay?"

She looked up into the gorgeous green eyes of a blonde Greek god, descended from Mount Olympus to lift her from the floor and her bad thoughts. She wanted to answer him. She should answer him. He was standing there, arm outstretched, waiting for her answer, wanting to help her up.

_'He asked if you were okay!! Don't panic!! Just give him an honest answer!!'_

"No."

'Oh no!! Not that kind of honest! Stupid! Even my brain is clumsy!!'

He frowned.

'Oh no!! I made him unhappy!! Just like I made Alya unhappy. And I'm sure Nino isn't enjoying this. I mess every-'

Her thoughts were cut off by his hand grabbing hers, pulling her oh so gently up from the floor.

* * *

He was worried. He knew the fight with Alya couldn't be easy, but she seemed completely distraught. He reached his hand out.

* * *

She was stuck, frozen. His hand was getting closer to her and she couldn't move an inch.

* * *

Gently, he cupped her face in his hand. She looked so lost.

* * *

She was pretty sure she had stopped breathing. He was touching her!

* * *

His thumb swiped over her cheek, wiping off the tear he was pretty sure she hadn't realized had fallen.

* * *

She was crying in front of Adrien over something as simple as falling out of her chair.

_'My life is officially over.'_

* * *

He smiled, trying to put as much reassurance and sympathy as he could into it. He wanted to wipe the distracted sorrow off her face like he had her tear, but he didn't think that would work.

_'Maybe I could kiss it off.'_

* * *

She didn't understand why he was starting to turn as red as her. Was she actually making Adrien blush?!

* * *

_'What is wrong with you?! 'Kiss it off?!' What was that?! Oh no. You're touching her cheek. Cupping her cheek in your hand! How did you not notice this?! Get a grip, Adrien!'_

He pulled his hand away and cleared his throat, turning back to his seat, trying to get the image of her lonely, forlorn face to stop burning itself into his eyelids. __

* * *

_'Of course, he was probably just embarrassed for you! Get a grip, Marinette! You've got bigger problems than Adrien! Alya isn't talking to you.'_

She glanced at her friend. Why was she glaring daggers at Adrien? What did he do to her?

 _'Oh no. Is she mad at him for helping me up?!'_ She slunk back into her seat.

To her left, Nino was glancing between his three best friends, completely lost. It seemed to him, that in the thirty seconds since Marinette's pencil snapped, Alya had suddenly shifted her anger towards Adrien and Marinette was more depressed than before. He really didn't understand his friends sometimes.

Adrien squirmed in his seat. Where had that idea come from? He was going to have to figure that out later. Right now, he needed to figure out what was going on between the girls and fix it, before Alya took off his head. He wasn't sure why, but the angry fire of a girl had decided to ignore Marinette and make Adrien the object of her fury.

He glanced to his left and gulped. He'd take an akuma over a mad Alya any day.

He shifted his gaze to the clock.

_'Four more minutes. Just four more minutes and you can run.'_

He didn't know that running from Alya was pointless.

As soon as the bell rang, she slammed her hand in front of his face, causing a high pitched yelp to jump up from the boy. He looked up and cringed. She could melt metal with that glare.

"You and I . . . " she leaned closer and he gulped. ". . . need to talk."

Adrien had never been so terrified in his life.

With an apologetic wave of his hand, Nino slipped past. He seemed to be trying to shield Marinette from Alya's view. Adrien didn't think it mattered. Alya was so focused on him, she probably wouldn't notice if the proverbial elephant in the room was an actual elephant in the middle of he schoolroom.

Adrien sat, waiting for the classroom to empty while Alya breathed down his neck. Rose and Juleka were the last to leave. He was pretty sure Rose had murmured "Good luck" as she passed. Good luck? That's a laugh. He was Chat Noir, the embodiment of _bad_ luck.

" _So_."

He jumped when Alya started. She sounded like she was preparing to interrogate a criminal mastermind.

"You are the reason she won't talk to me, aren't you?"

_'Wait, what? How could I be the cause? Be cool, Adrien. Be cool. Don't let her know you're nervous, being nervous is tantamount to admitting guilt.'_

"U-um, no?"

_'Good job, Adrien. Very cool.'_

Alya raised an eyebrow. For some reason beyond his comprehension, his mind decided to replay his thought from earlier.

_'Maybe I could kiss it off.'_

He panicked.

"Look, Alya, I don't know what's going on between you two, but I have nothing to do with it! I haven't seen either one of you since school on Friday. I had a super long photoshoot Saturday and I never even left the house Sunday! I promise, I didn't do anything to Marinette!" He winced, waiting for the retaliation he knew was coming.

Silence.

He dared a glance at her. Her expression was unreadable. He didn't think that was good.

"I don't believe you."

"But I didn't-!"

She cut him off.

"No buts! I know you're not lying to me about not seeing her, but you're guilty. I can see it in your face." He gulped, eyes shifting nervously. "You're definitely hiding something." She leaned in, dangerously close. He backed away. "And I'm going to find out what." He fell out of his chair, hitting the floor with a grunt.

With a nod and a "humph!" she turned, swiping her bag off the table, and marched out of the room.

_'I'm doomed.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know these chapters are really short. Sorry, guys. If you want longer chapters, let me know. It'll just be longer between updates.


End file.
